A survey percentage can describe its respondents without describing everyone. The cue is a claim about a broader group than the one surveyed. Check who could receive the survey, then who actually answered; that reveals possible selection bias, when the way people enter a sample can tilt the result. A large response count does not fix that mismatch.
Hints
- Hint 1
The target population is the full group a claim describes. The advertisement says people, not just survey respondents. Who would need a chance to answer for the claim to reach that full group?
- Hint 2
A sample is the group whose answers were counted. Follow both filters: who received the email and who completed the survey. Could either filter leave out people who might answer differently?
Step-by-step
Compare the claim with the respondents
Step 1Identify the group named in the advertisement
No Desmos needed. This is about who answered, not a calculation. The advertisement says “people,” so its target population, the group it claims to describe, is people in general.
- Step 2
Check who could receive the survey
The company emailed customers who had bought the drink from its website. So only those website purchasers had a chance to answer; people outside that group could not be included.
- Step 3
Check whose answers were counted
The came from the customers who completed the survey. People chose whether to reply, so emailing every website purchaser did not mean every purchaser's answer was counted.
- Step 4
Decide whether the claim reaches everyone
Website purchasers who chose to respond may differ from people in general. The can accurately describe the respondents without representing everyone the advertisement names. That is why the advertisement may be misleading. Choice C.